Short Summary

Hundreds of prisoners in the Federal prison in Buenos Aires rioted on Monday (19 February) in a protest against conditions.

Description

Hundreds of prisoners in the Federal prison in Buenos Aires rioted on Monday (19 February) in a protest against conditions. Riot police quelled the four hour disturbance by using tear gas against the prisoners. During the riot, windows facing the street were smashed by prisoners who pushed burning bedding through the bars and set other fires inside the prison. Officials in Buenos Aires said no one was injured in the incident.

Co-inciding with the riot inside, relatives of prisoners protested outside the prison against the alleged bad conditions. When riot police arrived to deal with the disturbance, relatives pleaded with them for the safety of prisoners. To prevent any advance on the prison by relatives, police cordoned off the area.

SYNOPSIS: Prisoners rioted for several hours on Monday in the Federal prison in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires. They were protesting against conditions in the prison.

Heavily-armed riot police cordoned off the streets around the prison as guards and other police moved into the building to deal with the disturbance. Officials described the riot as a mutiny by several hundred prisoners. Using teargas, police took four hours to quell the disturbance.

Prisoners set fire to bedding and draped it down the prison walls. Outside relatives pleaded with police for the safety of prisoners. In a move to prevent the crowd moving closer to the building, riot police advanced and formed a cordon some distance from the prison walls.

The large squads of police were reinforced at times during the disturbance. Originally, the relatives had come to protest against prison conditions. When riot police moved into the building, the relatives' protests changed to pleas not to harm the men inside.

The poisoners had smashed window glass into the street before setting fires. Authorities in Buenos Aires said no one was injured in the incident.